Please Write: A Novel in Letters

An epistolary novel with a twist, Please Write chronicles the correspondence between Vivienne, the alter ego of a recently widowed Cleveland artist, and Zippy, a mixed-breed terrier rescued off the streets of Baltimore. Their letters change and enrich their lives as well as that of Zippy's owner, Pamela, a harried journalist whose life is unraveling. Combining the canine viewpoint of A Dog's Purpose with the poignant style of The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society , Please Write , with Disney-like charm, delivers a distinctive account of coping with heartbreak and loss through the power of imagination and love.

J. WYNN ROUSUCK is the theater critic at Baltimores NPR affiliate, WYPR, and the former longtime theater critic at The Baltimore Sun . She has been published in magazines ranging from American Theatre to Dog World , and her writing has been honored by organizations including the Dog Writers Association of America. She has taught writing and theater at the Eugene ONeill Theater Centers National Critics Institute, Goucher College, and in various programs at Johns Hopkins University. Her award-winning short stories have appeared in Atticus Review and Creative Loafing Tampa Bay , and her interviews can be found in the book, Hairspray: The Roots and Conversations with Neil Simon . A graduate of Wellesley College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, she was a National Endowment for the Humanities Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan and a visiting student in the graduate playwriting program at Brown University. Please Write is part of her family heritage: Her father was a dog judge and his oldest brother wrote one of the first books about Boston Terriers. She lives in Baltimore with her husband Alan Fink and their Boston Terrier, Juno. Please Write is her first novel.